Air distributing means



July 26, 1938. P, F, S ERRY 2,124,716

AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS Filed April 18, 1956' 2 Sheets-Sheet l .J7z widow.- PiZiZIIZOT' 11.5267? azuzza/ 7707114 6 July 26, 1938. P SPERRY 2,124,716

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Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES AIR. DISTRIBUTING MEANS Philmore F. Sperry, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Excel Auto Radiator Company,

Chicago, Ill.,

a corporation of Delaware Application April 18, 1936, Serial No. 75,123

6 Claims.

This invention relates to air distributing means for heaters which are commonly used in passenger automobiles.

The present invention is particularly adaptable to that type of structure wherein heat radiation is supplied by a heating fluid which heating fluid is heated by the engine of the automobile and circulated through a heat radiator that is placed inside the passenger compartment of the car. These devices usually employ a fan driven by a small motor for forcing air within the passenger compartment through channels in the radiator, and this air is distributed between a plurality of shutters or other baffle means for directing the air as it leaves the heat radiator.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a simple mechanism whereby the direction of the air which has been heated by the radiator may be continually varied so as to obtain a more uniform distribution thereof throughout the passenger compartment.

More specifically the invention provides for a mechanism operable manually or by a motor for moving the bafiies or shutters that direct the air from the heat radiator. This mechanism is so constructed that the shutters may be driven from the motor through a yielding driving connection that will permit the operator to manually adjust the shutters and yet will permit the driving operation to proceed as soon as the motor is turned on even though the manual adjustment has caused a complete separation of the yielding driving connection.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is shown.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an automobile heater to which the invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view substan-- .tially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

. Fig. 6 is a sectional view like Fig. 2 illustrating a slightly modified construction; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line of Fig. 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention is shown as applied to a heat radiator l0 which may be mounted upon a dash board ll of an au tomobile, suitable pipes l2 and I3 being provided for connecting the radiator ID to a source of heated fluid which is heated by the car engine. A motor 14 is supported by a framework l5. The motor It drives a fan l6 by means of which air is forced through the heat radiator II], the cold air being drawn into the fan l6 through an opening H in a fan shield l8 that forms a part of the housing for the radiator Ill.

The radiator I0 is encased in a sheet metal cup shaped housing l9 which telescopes with a portion of the fan shield 18 to complete the enclosure of the radiator ID. The housing I9 is open at the front and has a pair of turned in flanges 20 and 2| to which a plurality of shutters or baflies 22, 23, 24, and 25 are pivoted. The shutters may be pivoted in any suitable fashion such for example as by means of rivets 26 and 21. Each shutter has secured theretoa small pinion 28. This pinion may be secured to the shutter in any suitable fashion such for example as by welding or soldering it to a downturned flange 29 which is provided for pivotally securing the shutter in position. The several pinions 28 mesh with a rack 30, this rack being guided by a bracket 3| (see Fig. 5) at one end and by a similar bracket 32 shown in Fig. 3 at its other end. The brackets 3| and 32 are afiixed to the housing l9 by screws or any other suitable means. It will be readily apparent that, if the rack 30 is reciprocated, it will cause a rocking movement of the pinions 28 so as to open and close the shutters 22, 23, 24, and 25. The shutters may be adjusted by hand by means of a finger piece 33 that is pivoted in the housing I9. 'I'hisfinger piece carries a pinion 34 which pinion meshes with a rack segment 35 which is fixed to the rack 30.

It is not satisfactory, however, to have to be continually adjusting the shutters in an air distributing device of this character, and the present invention provides means whereby the shutters may be automatically shifted at a continuous rate so as to distribute the air from the heat radiator in a much more effective manner. In a preferred form of the invention, a small electric motor 36 is mounted in the housing l9 by means of a suitable clamp 31. This motor has a worm 38 on its shaft. The worm 38 meshes with a worm gear 39 which is rotatably supported in the housing l9 by means of a stub shaft 40 which is rotatably held in a stud 40' secured to the housing IS. The worm gear'39 has on its hub a pinion 4| which is adapted to mesh with a large gear 42 which is joumalled in a stud 43 fixed to the housing l8. As shown, the gear. 82 has a'hub 44 provided with a reduced extension forming a shaft 45 that is provided with'an annular groove 48. The shaft 48 fits in a recess 41 provided in the stud l8, and a set screw 48 has a reduced end 48 that holds the shaft 48 in the stud 48 although it permits the gear 42 to rotate. The shaft 48 is rotatably secured in the stud 48' in the same fashion and therefore is' not shown in detail.

The gear 82 is connected to the rack 88 through a yielding driving connection which will now be described. The gear 42 carries a plate 58 (see Fig. 4) This plate has pivoted thereon a block 8| which is eccentrically located with respect to the axis of rotation of the gear". A connecting plate 52 has an elongated rectangular slot 58 therein receiving the block 5| so that, upon rotation of the gear 82, a reciprocating motion may be imparted to the plate 52. This plate 52 has a flange 54 which fits over the rack 88, and the plate is slidably secured to the rack by means of a pin 55 fixed in the rack and projecting through an elongated slot 88 in the plate 52. A nut 51 is provided to hold the plate 52 on the pin 55. Thus reciprocating movement may be communicated to the plate 52 to cause it to reciprocate lengthwise of the rack 88.

To connect the rack 88 with the plate 52 and cause a reciprocating movement of the rack, there is provided a notch 58 (see Fig. 3) in the plate 52, and a spring 58 is fixed to the rack and provided with a V-shaped finger 88 adapted to seat in the notch 58. This provides a yielding connection between the rack 88 and the plate 52. In the normal operation, the finger 88 is seated in the notch 58, and the shutters such as 22 are oscillated to and fro as the rack 88 reciprocates. Should any obstruction get in the way ofv the shutters, then the notch 58 will permit the finger 88 to slide out of it so that the mechanism can continue to operate until the obstruction is removed from the shutters.

This connection is highly important in providing for the manual adjustment of the shutters.

The finger 88 can readily be moved out of the notch 58 by manual rotation of the knob 38 to move the rack 88 when the gears 88 and 42 are stationary and the motor .88 is deenergized. When the motor is again started, the notch 58 can be engaged with the finger 88 in any position of the rack 88 because the pin 55 and the slot 58 limit the movement of the rack 88 relative to the shaft 88 which extends downwardly to the rear of the housing It where its lower end is supported by means of a bearing 88 carried by a bracket 85. A

pair of bevelled gears 88 and 81 couple the shaft 83 to a horizontally running shaft 88 that carries one element 88 of a clutch 18. The clutch 18 has another element II which is movable lengthwise on a worm shaft 12 but which is keyed thereto so as to rotate with the shaft 12. A control lever 18 fits in a clutch ring H formed with the clutch member II so as to move the member ll away from the member 88 or toward it to operate the clutch. The lever I8 is operated by a link 15 which has a handle 18 thereon. The shaft 12 has a worm II thereon which meshes with the worm gear 88 to operate this in the same manner that the worm 88 does.

While certain embodiments of the inventionhave been shown and described, it is to be under stood that it is capable of many modifications.

. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims in which it is the intention to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what -I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Air distributing means of the character described comprising a housing member having an aperture therein, a plurality of shutters movably mounted on said housing member for controlling and directing the. fiow of air through said aperture, and power driven means for continuously maintaining said shutters in motion, said power driven means comprising a reciprocating member operatively connected to said shutters, a motor, and mechanism operatively connecting the motor to said reciprocating mematively connected to said shutters, a motor for driving said reciprocating member connecting means between said motor and said reciprocating member comprising a plate slidably mounted with respect to said reciprocating member, and operatively connected to said motor, a notch in said plate, and a spring pawl on said reciprocating member engageable in said notch.

3. Air distributing means of the character described comprising a housing member having an aperture therein, a plurality of shutters movably mounted on said housing member for controlling and directing the flow of air through said aperture, and power driven means for continuously maintaining said shutters in motion, said power driven means comprising a reciprocating member operatively connected to said shutters, a motor and mechanism operatively connecting the motor to said reciprocating member, said mechanism including an overload release operable at any time for releasing said reciprocating member from said motor whether the motor is running or not, and manually operable means for moving said reciprocating member to adjust the shutters.

4. In air distributing means of the character described having a housing provided with an aperture and a plurality of movably mounted shutters for controlling and directing the fiow of air through said aperture, a reciprocable member operatively connected to said shutters for oscillating them, power driven means having a yieldable connection to said member for driving it, and manually operable means for moving said member relatively to said power driven means by overcoming the yieldable connection.

5. In air distributing means of the character described having a housing provided with an aperture and a plurality of movabiy mounted shutters for controlling and directing the flow of air through said aperture, a reciprocable member operatively connected to said shutters for driving them, power driven means having a yieidable connection to said member for driving it, and manually operable means for moving said member relatively to said power driven means by overcoming the yieldable connection,

said yielding connection comprising a spring pawl and detent.

6. In air distributing means of the character described having a housing provided with an aperture and a plurality of movably mounted shutters for controlling and directing the flow of air through said aperture, a reciprocable member operatively connected to said shutters for driving them, power driven means having a yieldable connection to said member for driving it, and manually operable means for moving said member relatively to said power driven means by overcoming the yieldable connection, said yielding connection comprising a spring pawl and detent adapted automatically to reengage upon the next succeeding full stroke of said power driven means.

PHILMORE F. SPERRY. 

